Althouse: "The family brand was built in Texas, where Yankee patrician George H.W. Bush moved from the East Coast to West Texas as a young man, made his money in the oil patch and..."

February 27, 2022

"The family brand was built in Texas, where Yankee patrician George H.W. Bush moved from the East Coast to West Texas as a young man, made his money in the oil patch and..."

"... then was elected to Congress from Houston in the late 1960s. But for the past decade or so, the Bush brand has been in decline. A defeat for George P. Bush in the attorney general’s race would put an exclamation point on that erosion."

From "George P. Bush charts a Trumpian path as he tries to extend the family dynasty in Texas/The family brand has taken a hit in conservative Texas. As he seeks the nomination for attorney general, Bush says he runs ‘as my own man’" (WaPo).

35 comments:

Leland said...: Gobbledygook - "George P. Bush charts a Trumpian path as he tries to extend the family dynasty in Texas"; 2/27/22, 10:03 AM
J Melcher said...: As a Texas I've been attempting, with extraordinarily little success, to brand G.P. as

"George III" George the Third.

I attribute my lack of success to the historical illiteracy of my compatriots.; 2/27/22, 10:07 AM
Temujin said...: He may be a great guy, or he may be another card carrying 'Skull and Bones' member. I don't care. At this point we need to clean the house of all generational political families. Including cousins. Think: Kennedy, Bush, Murkowski, Dingell, Pelosi, Clinton, and coming soon to your election ballot- an Obama of some sort.

We have 330,000,000 people in this country. Our leaders have sucked for decades now. They have shown either disdain for their own citizens, or disdain for the laws as written. They make their own. Out of a country of our size, we have so many choices. Why would we keep going back to Harvard or Yale to find our elected officials? They've proven themselves untrustworthy, corrupt, self-interested, and phony.

Knowing their characteristics, would you hire them to run your shoe store? So why would you put these people in position to run your country?; 2/27/22, 10:09 AM
Mattman26 said...: Anyone who says out loud that he’s his own man is probably not.

Ditto not a wimp.; 2/27/22, 10:10 AM
GrapeApe said...: The Bush family have shown time and again that they espouse conservative values and not follow up. Perhaps Gorge P is different, but hesitate to trust. Damn well detest folks who run as conservative then vote Dem lite,; 2/27/22, 10:12 AM
gilbar said...: these Connecticut Bush yankees, what were their suitcases made of? Shag? or Berber?; 2/27/22, 10:16 AM
wendybar said...: No more family dynasties.; 2/27/22, 10:17 AM
iowan2 said...: The only thing “middle of the road”is road kill.; 2/27/22, 10:19 AM
Achilles said...: Republican voters do not really like Republican Politicians much.

Politicians are generally terrible people.; 2/27/22, 10:30 AM
Achilles said...: My guess is the little Bush tried to succeed in real life and found it too difficult.

A lot of mediocrity and trends to the mean in families like this.; 2/27/22, 10:37 AM
Conrad said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/22, 10:42 AM
Michael K said...: His grandfather set the tone for weakness.; 2/27/22, 11:03 AM
Scott said...: What does "Trumpian" mean in this context? Looks like irrelevant tribal labeling from here.; 2/27/22, 11:12 AM
mikee said...: George P. might be the best of the Bush lot, with a wealthy Mexican-American mother and having served in office here in Texas already, without being indicted even once - unlike his primary opponent Paxton. Then again, he may be more like his Bush predecessors, willing to play the game and not rock the boat. Who knows?

There are other very competent Republicans running for the office, and even our indicted Paxton is an acceptable choice for the office. I note that the charges against Paxton are even weaker than the ones the Austin DA used against Tom Delay to remove him from office way back when.

I voted early, because they give larger stickers to early voters. The affirmation value of a large red, white and blue sticker is not to be dismissed as an incentive to get out the vote.; 2/27/22, 11:14 AM
RMc said...: You know you're in trouble when your name is Bush and you're being accused of being "Trumpian" (especially since Trump has endorsed your opponent)...; 2/27/22, 11:15 AM
Jaq said...: Big money Democrats looking for a way to co-opt the opposition with another Bush.; 2/27/22, 11:19 AM
effinayright said...: Achilles said...
My guess is the little Bush tried to succeed in real life and found it too difficult.

A lot of mediocrity and trends to the mean in families like this.
***************
Yes! It's called "regression toward the mean."

Just consider the Kennedys. Joe Kennedy III actually ran ads in Boston showing him pulling a heating oil hose up to a hookup on a poor family's houme, claiming the oil he was delivering was "a gift from the people of Venezuela."

An old saying applies: "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations."; 2/27/22, 11:25 AM
Jokah Macpherson said...: Enough about George P, let’s talk about his hot wife.; 2/27/22, 11:31 AM
Joe Smith said...: No more Bushes, Clintons, Romneys, etc.

America should shun and mock family dynasties.

Make your own goddamn way in the world.

Don't inflict your nepotism on us...; 2/27/22, 11:59 AM
mccullough said...: The American Aristocracy.

Bushes only historical completion is the Adams Family: John and John Quincy. The Harrisons had grandpa and grandson presidents. So they get third place.; 2/27/22, 12:11 PM
Lurker21 said...: He's not a Yale man, so at least there's that, but the Bushes are through. Part of that is because the old Prescott Bush style Republicans aren't in the party and aren't welcome in the party any more. Part of it has to do with the mistakes of the last President Bush and the haplessness of the last Governor Bush. People are getting tired of dynasties, especially this one.; 2/27/22, 12:15 PM
Lyle Smith said...: I'll be voting against him. They are Washington elites masquerading as Texans.; 2/27/22, 12:37 PM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: George III is the least worst Bush available, so this Texan apparently has no choice but to vote for him, I'm told by WaPo.
The current AG is out of favor, either due to corruption, or he angered the wrong people. It's impossible to know.
Of all the candidates, the woman, Eva Guzman, seems like the best, but unlikely to win. I'll probably vote for her on Tuesday, for GIII in the runoff, and Paxton in the general in Nov.
So many choices.; 2/27/22, 1:06 PM
PM said...: The NYT has to keep the word 'Trump' alive long enough to kill it in 2024.; 2/27/22, 1:09 PM
Mike Smith said...: Temujin is right on the money. We our leaders are old, corrupt and out of ideas.; 2/27/22, 2:54 PM
Greg The Class Traitor said...: If he weren't a "Bush", he wouldn't be running in the race.

There's no possible way he could be running as "his own man".

Bush 43 spent 8 years not attacking Democrat Obama, but couldn't spend 4 years not attacking Republican Trump. I will never again vote for another member of the Bush family.

Did George P. Bush contemporaneously attack George W Bush for attacking Trump? No? Then he's not his own man, and not the type of "Republican" I will ever vote for; 2/27/22, 3:10 PM
boatbuilder said...: Ditto what Greg TCT said. George P has been touted as the Reaganite, non-country club "conservative" for a long time. Just brand diversification.

I do not recall him telling his uncle and father to stop sucking up to the Dems and slandering Trump. Maybe he did. But I think we would have heard about it if he did it publicly, when it counted.; 2/27/22, 5:42 PM
GrapeApe said...: There ya go Greg The Class Traitor. You hit the nail right on the head. Might be wrong, but not likely considering his dad, uncle and grandpa. As long as there is another repulican running against a Bush... there is where my vote goes.; 2/27/22, 5:45 PM
Dude1394 said...: Wouldn't vote for a bush now for dog-catcher. And I defended Dubya's rear end for 8 years.; 2/27/22, 6:08 PM
Dude1394 said...: Already casted my ballot against him.; 2/27/22, 6:11 PM
Big Mike said...: After Bill Clinton left office, his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, reached out to him and the two formed a sort of alliance. So was Bush the First always crooked? Or did he get turned after he allied himself with Clinton?; 2/27/22, 6:32 PM
MD Greene said...: It applies to Democrats too, BTW. NJ Sens Robert Menendez was found not guilty by a stupid federal jury in NJ and then had the nerve to run for re-election. The local paper, which said he should have resigned after the first event, then endorsed his re-election bid. (His good friend and sponsor, the Florida eye doctor, pled guilty to five dozen or more Medicare frauds.)

Funny thing. Bob Jr. was bestowed a spot on the Port Authority board of directors, which is a pretty big deal for a guy in his mid 30s, and now is running for a US House seat that seems to have been designed just for him during the 2020 redrawing of electoral districts.; 2/27/22, 8:09 PM
Peter said...: Jeb!; 2/28/22, 5:54 AM
lgv said...: Blogger Temujin said...
He may be a great guy, or he may be another card carrying 'Skull and Bones' member. I don't care. At this point we need to clean the house of all generational political families. Including cousins. Think: Kennedy, Bush, Murkowski, Dingell, Pelosi, Clinton, and coming soon to your election ballot- an Obama of some sort

This is the attitude of most Texans, too. The Bush brand is a little diminished in Texas. GHWB's network has died off and GWB's network overlaps many other conservative networks in Texas. Add the fact that he is Jeb's son and you get even less enthusiasm in Texas.

His life has checked every box: Hispanic, Rice U and UT Law School, clerked, a few years in big law, Navy Officer (direct commission and reserves, never came under sniper fire while in a chopper :)), held public office.

The reality is he is just another credentialed dude with political aspirations who has never really accomplished anything.; 2/28/22, 6:22 AM
Aggie said...: He is a distant third in the AG race. Paxton has been harried by controversy, much of it confected by the opposition in Austin, which is a sign that he's being effective. And Louie Gohmert is also running for this office in the primary. Another Bush? I don't think Trust Fund Babies are in need of any more representation, thank you.; 2/28/22, 9:09 AM